Fine Art Papers

Paper for Fine Art Reproduction

Once you have a fine art image ready for printing you are faced with the decision of which paper to use. Assuming you already have a printer, the selection of ink is usually made for you, just get the printer manufacturer's inks. So the decision is which paper to use with your printer's inks. When it comes to fine art printing there are two major criteria for selecting a paper; the longevity of the paper/ink combination and whether the paper has optical brighteners.

Longevity

When a print is exposed to light a process of change begins. This can be a fading of the ink, a yellowing of the paper, or a variety of other effects. Atmospheric agents such as ozone, sulfur and other chemicals can also effect the print. The lifetime of a print is measured by comparing prints exposed to various factors such as visible light, UV light, heat, ozone and other agents, against reference prints kept in the dark. Measurements are made of the inks and paper, compared to visual tolerances and a lifetime prediction is made. This lifetime represents the amount of time the print can be exposed under normal conditions before it changes objectionably. Since all the artists I've known want their art to last, paper and ink combinations should be selected with long lifetimes.

The best place to check paper/ink ratings is with the "Grand Master" of image permanence testing, Henry Wilhelm of Wilhelm Research. He literally wrote the book on image permanence, "The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs: Traditional and Digital Color Prints, Color Negatives, Slides, and Motion Pictures". His website has ratings for most of the printer inks and many of the available papers.

Brighteners

Everyone likes white things bright. At least this is what the soap and bleach manufacturers have been telling us for decades in their advertisements. Paper naturally has a yellowish color, due to the materials used in its construction, such as wood pulp or cotton fibers. To counteract this natural yellowness, paper makers add optical brighteners, also called fluorescent whitening agents, to the paper. Their effect is to make the paper look whiter and brighter by converting invisible ultraviolet light to visible blue light. The extra blue reflected light added to the natural yellow paper color makes the paper looks brighter and whiter.

Another benefit to using paper brighteners is to even out the variations between paper batches, making the paper consistent and predictably white.

So if optical brighteners and fluorescent whitening agents make the paper whiter and brighter, what is so bad about using them in papers for fine art reproduction?

Artists want their works to last for a long time. They go to great lengths to select long lasting inks and papers for their reproductions. Some optical brighteners fade after a few years, changing the appearance of the print. If the brightener does not fade, then the whiteness of the print will appear differently depending on the amount of ultraviolet light present in the illumination. If a print is prepared by the photographer and printer for one type of lighting, but ultimately displayed by the customer in a different lighting, the paper's optical brighteners may make the print no longer match the original or the artist's intention.

In my opinion, when it comes to optical brighteners in fine art reproductions, "Just say No!".

Detecting Brighteners

The question then becomes how to check if your paper has these brighteners?

Method 1, Check with an Expert.

One way is to check the Wilhelm Research website. Their longevity ratings of printer paper and ink combinations now include information about brightening agents.

Method 2, Measure with a Colorimeter.

Some people measure the paper with a colorimeter or spectrometer that gives colorimetric data, looking for a negative b* in the L*a*b* colorimetric values. This method works for some papers, but not for all since the brightening effect depends on the measuring instrument and the amount of paper brightener. An instrument with low UV light output combined with a paper having a small amount of brightener might produce too small an effect in the b* value. It is even possible to have a small positive b* value and still have a brightener in the paper (see the example below).

Method 3, Measure the spectrum.

A more accurate way is to measure paper samples with a spectrometer both with and without a UV light blocking filter. Comparing the difference in the two spectra will show how much brightener effect is present. When looking at a spectral graph of the two measurements, brighteners usually show a peak about 430 nm. This method can easily detect small amounts of brightening agents.

Method 4, Use a UV LED flashlight.

Of course, none of the first three methods work when you are in the store shopping for papers. To make a quick judgement in the store, a small UV LED flashlight can be used. When the paper is illuminated by the UV LED, the paper will appear violet if there are no brighteners present, blue if there are brighteners.

One source for an LED flashlight is Photon Light. Another source is counterfeit money detectors which use UV LEDs to check money for their fluorescent anti-counterfeiting measures. For example, in the US $5 and greater denominations, there is a fluorescing strip embedded in the paper. Sometimes the counterfeit detectors are available as pens, which makes a convenient way to carry the flashlight.

I usually carry a Photon Micro-Light when I go shopping for fine art papers. The UV Micro-Light is available in a variety of models, but be careful, some Micro-Lights have push on, push off modes which sometimes result in accidentally turning it on in a pocket when it pushes against keys and things, resulting in a fully drained battery when you need it. Their UV Micro-Light I has a simple push on, release off mechanism that reduces this problem. Another nice feature of the Micro-Lights is that a range of accessories such as lanyards and magnetic clips are available for mounting the lights in interesting ways.

Here is an example of a paper checked using Methods 2, 3 and 4.

Epson Proofing Paper measured with a Spectrolino equipped with the D65 filter, L*a*b* values calculated using the 1931 2 degree observer with a D65 illuminant gives L* = 95.52 a* = -1.25 b* = 1.11. With a positive b* value you might conclude that there is no brightener in the paper. Graphing the spectral measurements made with a Spectrolino with a D65 filter and with a UV Cut filter shows that there is brightener present.

Using the UV Micro-Light on this paper showed a definite blue color, thus corroborating the spectral measurements.

Papers and Media Tested

Company	Line	Paper	Brightener	Recommended
BF Inkjet	Fine Art Paper	UC-315 Ultrasmooth Cotton - Radiant White 315 gsm	Yes
bfinkjet.com		FT-315 Fine Art Textured - Natural White 315 gsm		Yes
		ST-315 Soft Touch - Natural White 315 gsm	Yes
		ST-280 Soft Touch - Natural White 280 gsm		Yes
		PG-300 Photo Art Glossy 300 gsm	Yes
		PGW-300 Photo Art Warm Tone Glossy 300 gsm		Yes
		PM-280 Photo Art Matte 280 gsm	Yes
		PL-300 Photo Art Luster 300 gsm	Yes
	Legacy	C-10 Premium Art Giclee Canvas All Cotton	Yes
		C-11 Premium Art Giclee Canvas Satin	Yes
		MC-12.1 Premium Waterfast Art Giclee Canvas Matte	Yes
		CG-15.2 Premium Art Giclee Canvas Glossy	Yes
	Grand Photographer	PC-11 Premium Digital Photo Canvas Satin	Yes
		PC-12.1 Premium Waterfast Digital Photo Canvas Matte	Yes
		PC-15.2 Premium Digital Photo Canvas Glossy	Yes
	Art Weave	AW 1.0 Digital Watercolor Paper Eggshell	Yes
		AW 2.0 Digital Watercolor Paper Matte	Yes
Crane & Co.	Museo	Museo Silver Rag		Yes
crane.com		Museo Maestro		Yes
		Museo Portfolio Rag		Yes
		Museo Max		Yes
		Museo II		Yes
Epson	Photographic Papers	Premium Luster Photo Paper	Yes
epson.com		Premium Semimatte Photo Paper	Yes
		Premium Glossy Photo Paper	Yes
	Coated Papers	Photo Semigloss Paper	Yes
		Photo Glossy Paper	Yes
		Semigloss Paper Heavyweight	Yes
		Glossy Paper Heavyweight	Yes
		Posterboard Semigloss	Yes
		Enhanced Matte Paper	Yes
		Enhanced Matte Posterboard	Yes
		Doubleweight Matte Paper	Yes
		Singleweight Matte Paper	Yes
		Presentation Matte Paper	Yes
		Photo Quality Ink Jet Paper	Yes
		Watercolor Paper - Radiant White	Yes
	Proofing Papers	Proofing Paper Commercial Semimatte	Yes
	Fine Art Papers	UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper 250 gsm		Yes
		UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper 325 gsm		Yes
		UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper 500 gsm		Yes
		Somerset Velvet for Epson 255 gsm	Yes
		Somerset Velvet for Epson 505 gsm	Yes
		Textured Fine Art Paper 225 gsm		Yes
		Textured Fine Art Paper 425 gsm		Yes
		Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper	Yes
		Canvas		Yes
		PremierArt Water Resistant Canvas for Epson		Yes
		Piezo Pro Matte Canvas for Epson		Yes
	Signage Media	Enhanced Adhesive Synthetic Paper	Yes
		Adhesive Vinyl	Yes
Hahnemuehle	Lumijet	Photo White 270 gsm	Yes
hahnemuhle.com		Photo White Satin 280 gsm	Yes
		White Velvet 270 gsm	Yes
		Museum Parchment 210 gsm	Yes
		Photo Art 210 gsm		Yes
		Masters Canvas 350 gsm		Yes
		Glossy Two Sides 265 gsm	Yes
		Genuine Pearl II 255 gsm	Yes
		Ultra Gloss II 255 gsm	Yes
		Matte Two Sides 180 gsm	Yes
	Fineart	William Turner 310 gsm		Yes
		Torchon 285 gsm	Yes
		Photo Rag Satin 310 gsm	Yes
		Photo Rag Bright White 310 gsm	Yes
		Photo Rag 308 gsm	Yes
		Natural Art Duo 216 gsm		Yes
		Museum Etching 350 gsm		Yes
		German Etching 310 gsm	Yes
		Fine Art Pearl 285 gsm	Yes
Moab		Colorado fiber gloss 245	Yes
moabpaper.com		Colorado fiber satine 245	Yes
		Lasal photo gloss 270	Yes
		Lasal photo luster 270	Yes
		Lasal photo matte 235	Yes
		Anasazi canvas premium matte 350	Yes
		Somerset enhanced velvet 225	Yes
		Somerset enhanced textured 225	Yes
		Entrada rag natural 190		Yes
		Entrada rag natural 300		Yes
		Entrada rag bright 190	Yes
		Entrada rag bright 300	Yes

Updated 30.3.2007